He did not come from Whittingham Kennels but was taken in by us in May 2011 when his owners said they were moving house and could no longer keep him.

Charlie was panting and wheezy and appeared to have difficulty breathing and the vet who examined him diagnosed Laryngeal Paralysis which is a life
threatening condition.

Left un-treated Charlie will become intolerant to exercise, heat, stress or anything which puts the slightest burden on his already lessening ability to take in air.

Eventually it will cause collapse and death from lack of oxygen.

Charlie’s condition can be successfully treated with surgery with entails tying back one of the laryngeal cartilages thus opening the larynx and allowing normal breathing.

Unfortunately the required surgery is expensive (estimated to be between £1000 and £2000) and way beyond the means of Whittingham Kennels which relies very much on donations for it’s day to day running.

Charlie can only be saved if we can raise the funds through the generosity of people like you and your friends. So if you are able I would be very grateful for any amount that you can spare.

A real bonus would be to find him a loving home … We would take him, if it wasn’t for the fact that we have only 6 weeks ago re-homed another retired greyhound and now have 2 hounds already.

Please send any donations that you collect from family & friends direct to me; cheques should be made payable to James Roberts who is coordinating the appeal on behalf of Johanna Beumer OBE who runs
Whittingham Kennels http://wkretiredgreyhounds.blogspot.com

Jim Roberts who has been one of Whittingham volunteers since 2000 is coordinating the fund-raising for Charlie. You can also call him on 01268 414123 if you need any further information.

Written by personal trainer to the stars (and the Camerons) Matt Roberts who learnt the importance of fitness from his father, the footballer John Roberts who played for Arsenal and Wales and later trained with the sprinter and Olympic gold winner Darren Campbell.

Matt Roberts presides over a multi-faceted fitness and nutrition empire, including 4 personal training centres (he opened his first gym in an abandoned art gallery in Mayfair at the age of 22), 8 books, fitness DVDs and an exercise clothing range; he is a fitness expert for BBC Radio 1 and BBC Breakfasts, columnist and a nutrition and fitness consultant for brands including Sony, Gillette and Danone.

In his latest book, Matt encourages you to think like a celebrity, presenting two of his tried and tested fitness & diet programmes. By setting very precise, clear goals against a timeline, Matt gives his clients purpose and direction and, crucially, gets results – every time!

The second part of the book, the 2 week blitz, describes the approach Matt uses with celebrities who are preparing for a fast approaching “red carpet” moment.

It is intensive. You will need to work out 6 days a week, with one day off for recovery. The upside (!) is that you won’t need to restrict your calorie intake too much because the programme is so intense …

The book is broken down in such a way that it provides all you need to focus on each day during the programme: “today’s diet” and “today’s workout”.

Diet is an important part and there is breakdown of your meals for each day. A small collection of easy to follow recipes are provided. Meals are typically low-fat and low-ish carb (think Portobello burger, chicken fajitas, wheat-free pasta with smoked salmon … ), and portion sizes on the small side. Meals are repeated throughout the programme, but you could substitute meals/ingredients to suit your palate, provided they fall within the plan guidelines.

Having given up my gym membership a year ago, I was interested to find out how my routine compares and what I could do differently to make my workouts as efficient and effective as possible.

As with most things worth having in life, there is no easy, quick fix or magic wand – and Matt states very clearly that in the 1st chapter of the book. If you eat too much and do too little, you will get out of shape and fatter. No short cuts!

The main thing that I took away from the book is that goal setting is absolutely key. Having purpose, direction and a recognisable end point is important for anyone who wants to be successful and this is an ethos that can equally be applied to fitness.

I was pleased to read that I am, unwittingly, already implementing a number of Matt’s exercise principles designed to achieve maximum results in the shortest possible time: interval training, super sets, compound training and MHR (maximum heart rate).

Here’s an exercise from the book, knee crossover tucks, which I do a couple of time a week: it’s great for developing stability around the lower back.

Here’s how:

1. Assume a face down position on the ground with palms of hands on the floor under the shoulders and legs extended with the balls of the feet touching the ground. Raise yourself up using your arms, maintaining a stable, straight torso.

2. Holding this position, slowly lift one foot off the floor and raise the leg, bringing the knee across the upper body. Stop raising the leg at the point you feel your lower back bending and slowly lower back down to the starting position. Repeat for the other side.

Not feeling your best? Unhappy with the shape of your body? Preparing for an event where you need to impress?

Prepared to work hard + diligently and to give exercise your undivided attention?

If you answer “yes” to one of more questions, then this book could be for you.

“Not having to plan, shop for, and prepare my own meals is brilliant. It really takes the stress off your plate! Portions are generous and the meals are healthy, convenient and tasty. I highly recommend it when you are working & playing hard”.

SavvyCook’s kitchen-keeping service provides you with an invisible chef who makes sure that your kitchen is stocked with everything you need to keep, or get, your healthy eating habits on track.

Meal planning, shopping & chopping are all taken care of.

On a weekly basis Savvy Cook supplies

5 ready-to-cook dinners

The menu changes every week and is published here on SavvyCook’s blog on Friday www.savvycook.wordpress.com. Very simple cooking instructions accompany every meal.

Part of the flowering greens family, which also includes “regular”, tenderstem and purple sprouting broccoli and romanesco, cauliflower is available pretty much all year round but at its best in winter.

Although delicious and popular, there are more ways to prepare cauliflower than covered with a cheesy bechamel sauce.

Try adding lightly cooked cauliflower florets to macaroni cheese next time, or bake sprinkled with a mixture of wholemeal breadcrumbs and Parmesan.

When buying, look for caulis with white, tight heads; avoid if discoloured or if they smell strongly.

Cook all varieties as lightly as possible to avoid the unpleasant sulphurous smell and to retain nutrients.

Brown basmati rice is rich in vitamin B and has a low GL (glycemic load) score which means that the energy is released slowly into the bloodstream to help keep your blood sugar levels even.

Broccoli contains substances called sulphurophanes, which have been shown to help remove liver toxins and support the immune system. The combination of ginger, in the recipe below, and the cauliflower is packed with antioxidants.

Sesame seeds are a good source of omega-6 fats and, toasted, have a delicious nutty flavour.

In the delicious and easy recipe below I have used ginger pachadi from Bill’s Produce Store www.billsproducestore.co.uk to add an exotic touch to cauliflower.

Pachadis are spice mixtures, popular in South India: use them like I have done here, to flavour vegetables, mix into natural yoghurt and use as a dip or marinade for meat or fish.

This meal, which is really quick to prepare and can be on the table in minutes, serves 2 as a wholesome, vegetarian main course.

Round: penne, rigatoni. The wide shapes are easily coated with sauce and excellent for holding it. Also make a great base for baked pasta dishes.

Rice

Basmati: long grain and fragrant. Its low starch content means the grains stay separate after cooking. Particularly suited to Indian foods or dishes with a similar spice base.

Short grain: a great standard rice for a multitude of sweet and savoury dishes. Unlike long-grain rice, has no distinctive flavour. The grains just stick together after cooking.

Arborio, carnaroli, vialone: grown in the Po valley in Northern Italy, these types of rice contain more starch than other types and will withstand long, slow cooking. As the rice cooks, starch is released which gives risotto its creamy texture.

Jasmine: fragrant and slightly perfumed. Delicious with Chinese, Vietnamese, or Thai-style dishes. Rice contains enough starch to keep the grains together after cooking, making it easy to eat with chopsticks.

Noodles

Egg: wheat noodles which have been enriched with egg. They come in varying thicknesses. Cook in boiling water before mixing with other ingredients

Rice: made from ground rice and water, these noodles need to be soaked or boiled before being used. They come in varying thicknesses.

Wheat, ramen, soba: tend to be similar in thickness as spaghetti and require boiling in water before being added to a stir-fry, soup or broth.

Grains + lentils

Cannellini beans and chickpeas: canned beans make a fantastic base for a simple meal, soup or salad. Simple drain, rinse and add at the end of the cooking time so they retain their shape and texture.

Lentils: red lentils take only a few minutes to cook and can add texture and volume to stews and soups. Du Puy are small and green-brown to blue with an earthy, nutty flavour. They can be simply boiled, mixed with olive oil as a side dish and complement meat and fish equally well.

Couscous: made from semolina and wheat, the grains vary from medium to coarse and have a very mild taste. Cook by soaking in hot stock or water until swollen.

Bulghur wheat: similar to couscous but with a nuttier flavour and more knubbly texture. Boil in hot water or stock until the grains have soaked up the liquid.

Quinoa: pronounced “keen wa” is a tiny seed used as a cereal for more than 5,000 years. Regarded as a sacred food by the Incas who called it “the mother seed”. Provides one of the best sources of vegetable protein and its flavour is comparable to couscous. Cook like rice.

Herbs

Dried: they are generally not a substitute for fresh herbs, but some varieties are better dried than others. Only use dried herbs in cooked dishes, never in raw foods such as salads. Use a quarter of the amount of dried herbs as you would use fresh ones. Store cupboard basics: rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, bay leaves and tarragon.

Spices

A mixture of ground and whole: they are essential for flavouring food. Buy the nutmeg whole and grate it as you need it rather than buying pre-ground. Keep some cinnamon sticks as well as ground cinnamon for flavouring compotes and tagines. Good quality sea-salt is a must for its purity and flavour.

Canned tomatoes: good quality tinned plum tomatoes are preferable to inferior, tasteless fresh ones out of season. Choose a good brand.

Olive oil and olives: use a good quality olive oil for frying, and an extra virgin single estate for drizzling over soups, bruschettas and to dress salad. It is a seasonal product and when first harvested and pressed in November has a completely different taste and colour. Choose firm, unblemished olives with a good colour and wash before use if preserved in brine. Kalamata olives from Greece are my favourite for their strong, salty and distinctive flavour.

Capers: small and green, they are the buds of the caper bush and can be bought packed in brine or salt. Rinse well before use.

Tuna: for maximum flavour, choose canned in olive or sunflower oil over brine. The only tuna not listed as endangered is skipjack. Trawling for fish using nets puts dolphins at risk of getting caught. Check labelling on cans to ensure it contains “dolphin friendly” tuna.

Anchovies: salted or tinned, which are very different in character, but both are useful melted into a sauce to dress pasta or vegetables.

Balsamic vinegar: is grape juice boiled for a long time then transferred to wooden vats for ageing for up to 50 years for the most expensive. The older the vinegar, the darker in colour and the more intensely sweet.

Harissa: a hot and spicy Middle Eastern chilli paste that traditionally accompanies couscous. Use sparingly to add flavour to tagines, sauces or a simply griddled piece of meat or fish.

Dijon mustard: the smooth and wholegrain varieties are both medium-strength which makes them good all-rounders for dressings, marinades and sandwiches.

Asian

Soya, fish and oyster sauce: these salty sauces are essential for Asian cooking. Soya sauce is made from fermented soybeans, varies in intensity and sweetness and also comes in a reduced salt variety. Fish sauce has a pungent aroma, but the taste is addictive!

Sweet chilli and hoisin sauce: these two offer sweetness with a subtle kick. Ideal for stir-fries and marinades or as a dipping sauce.

Rice wine: or “shao hsing” has a mild taste. You can use medium or dry sherry instead.

Sesame oil: adds a unique taste of toasted sesame to vegetables and other foods. Use sparingly as a flavour maker not for frying.

Thai red and green curry paste: the red paste is made from ground red chillies, garlic, lemon grass, ginger and fermented shrimps amongst other things. The green variety includes coriander and green chillies. Keep in the fridge once opened.

Miso paste: this very thick paste is made from fermented soya beans and rice. It has a nutty flavour and is a bit salty. Generally the darker the colour, the stronger the miso.

Coconut milk: pressed from the kernel of ripe coconuts, this is a mainstay of Asian and Caribbean cooking and can be used to flavour curries, soups and desserts. I use the reduced fat variety without any loss of taste or eating quality.

Sambal oelek: a paste made from fresh chilli peppers which can be used as a convenient substitute for fresh chillies.

Baking

Flour: stone ground plain (white or brown) flour for bread making and soft wheat flour, sold as plain or self-raising flour, for cakes and pastry making. Plus cornstarch for thickening sauces and for baking, in combination with other flours, to give a finer texture.

Cocoa, minimum 70% chocolate and vanilla: remember, the better the quality the better the flavour! Use vanilla extract instead of vanilla essence and use a vanilla stick to flavour sugar for baking.

Almonds and coconut: ground almonds produce a buttery flavour in baking when mixed with flour. Coconut is readily available dessicated (dried and very fine) or shredded. Both are high in fat, and make cakes and biscuits moist.

Baking powder, bi-carbonate of soda, cream of tartar: are all leavening agents. Baking powder, out of the three, has the mildest taste and leaves no residual flavour.

Sweet

Honey: made by bees from flower nectar and stored in their hives in a maze of waxy honeycomb. In general, the darker the colour the stronger the flavour. Any mild coloured honey is suitable for baking.

Sugar: white, caster and icing sugar are all white sugars with a different texture. Brown, dark brown and Demerara sugar all have residual molasses that have not been removed during processing and which gives them a caramel taste. Buy fairly traded products where possible.

Blackstrap molasses: is a natural sweetener with a rich, bittersweet taste. It is a good source of minerals and vitamins and the flavour enhances many dishes including cakes, chutneys and stews.

Date syrup: made from the juice of fresh dates, it’s got a distinctive sweet-sour taste.

Jam: can be used to make a quick dessert as well as eaten on a piece of toast.

Fridge

Milk

Natural yoghurt

Single cream or crème fraiche

Butter: unsalted

Chunk of Parmesan

1 other cheese you love: goats cheese or a piece of blue cheese for example.

Tub of ricotta: if you like fresh cheese, but be aware that it does not have a long shelf life and needs to be eaten fairly quickly once you have opened the tub.

Coffee: freshly ground or beans which you grind yourself as and when needed; best kept in an airtight jar for freshness.

Freezer

Peas: frozen can be superior to fresh, unless very recently picked

Soya beans: soya protein can help maintain a healthy heart but make sure its non-GM.

Berries: as I write, I still have two plastic bags of blackberries waiting to be turned into a apple & blackberry crumble or whizzed into a nutrient packed smoothie with some natural yoghurt, seeds and tablespoon of oats.

Tub of good quality vanilla ice cream: goes well with fresh fruit and most desserts

Stock: make and freeze your own into an ice cube tray or buy in tubs. A “must” as a base for soups and quick meals in a bowl with pasta or noodles.

And …

Eggs: medium, free range organic

Tea: I keep a few different types, loose and teabags, black, green and herbal to suit different moods and occasions

Marmite: love it or hate it?

Good luck with sorting out your kitchen cupboards: I bet once you’ve got a good store + system going, you’ll never look back and will find scratch cooking + shopping so much easier.

As I am writing this review, I have listened to Radio 4 Woman’s Hour on diets and the diet industry with, amongst others, Arabella Weir who has struggled with weight all her life and whose latest book is called “The real me is thin”.

From listening to the introduction to the programme, where women recount the many and varied (mad) diets they have tried, it is abundantly clear that although many of us know more about food and nutrition than ever, diets don’t keep the weight off (diets have a 97% failure rate!) and as a nation we are generally becoming fatter.

I have also watched Channel 4’s documentary “Britain’s Fattest Man” which looked at Britain’s most desperate cases of overeating and the nation’s rising tide of obesity: at 57 stone, the 49-year-old Paul Mason is the tragic object of tabloid scrutiny, logistical nightmares and extreme medical measures. One thing is for sure, there is no dignity for the super-obese!

Of course, it is hard to relate to extremes, but Paul Mason wasn’t born fat. He grew fat, and fatter and fatter still.

Dieting is big business: worth £2.6b in the UK alone.

We believe fad (read “quick fix”) diets will quickly deliver the desired weight loss and the concept of “healthy eating” has become a muddled term. “Weight management” and “nutrition” are often confused as a diet based on food choices focused on nutritional content can still lead to weight gain.

So, if you are among the millions of people for whom day-to-day-dieting is a way of life, what now?

One that enables you to manage your weight, promotes energy, reduces hunger and still provides the good nutrition you require.

This is what his new book “How not to get Fat: your daily diet”, due out on the 11th of January, is about.

I must state here that I have never been keen on The Food Doctor’s ready meals and salads: they lack imagination, look “messy” in their plastic containers and every single meal has been generally sprinkled with mixed seeds.

Bit I do rate Ian Marber, MBANT Dip ION, regular contributor to leading magazines and publications, prolific writer, founder and principal consultant at The Food Doctor Clinc and his no-nonsense approach to nutrition.

In his latest book, Ian Marber takes us through the basic science of how food becomes energy, in particular glucose management, how much glucose different foods create and their effect on your energy levels and how soon after eating you feel hungry again.

This section is excellent: it explains in layman terms how food is turned into fuel by the body’s digestive system. In particular, Ian explains glucose management, which is such a vital aspect of weight management, in detail.

In my work with clients at SavvyCook www.savvycook.co.uk and children and parents at SavvyKids www.savvykids.org.uk I am very aware how confused many people are about food and what constitutes appropriate eating.

Earlier this year I wrote in this blog about glycemic index and glycemic load in an effort to demystify glucose management and to explain some simple facts about how the human body works as well as offer tactics to manage bloodsugar levels.

Ian Marber goes on to apply the understanding of glucose management to knowledge of other food groups, fat and protein.

A vital concept in the daily diet is always to eat protein and complex carbohydrates together and to eat every two and a half to three hours, starting every day with breakfast.

The book then goes on to provide information on 50 typical healthy foods you might choose to eat, including advice on how to choose, buy, prepare and cook these foods and offers over 200 suggestions on how to turn them into easy but appealing meals and snacks.

I was pleased to see a wide range of ingredients described, including some less well-known grains, pulses, different kinds of meat and a wide range of vegetables. More information about provenance and seasonality under “what to look for” would have been welcome, although I appreciate that in the context of this diet these factors are largely irrelevant.

The recipes + meal suggestions are imaginative, practical and should be easy to follow by even not very confident cooks.

I liked the dry roasted chickpeas with chilli, cumin and cinnamon snack suggestion, curried quinoa and vegetable pilaff with toasted coconut and braised steak with olives, tomatoes and orange zest.

Suggestions on batch cooking are included plus ideas on what to do with left-overs.

I am no fan of freezing food: domestic freezers are not really equipped to freeze food really fast so no ice crystals are formed in the process. More often than not, the eating quality of a previously frozen meal is compromised as a result.

Nuts and seeds play an important role in “the daily diet”. One of the ultimate convenience foods, seeds are an instant way of adding protein, fibre and “good” fats to a dish.

I was surprised not to read a recommendation to grind the seeds to make the absorption of the nutrients by the body much easier.

In the final section of the book, Ian shares a number of food planners, including his own (!), based on different ages, circumstances and lifestyles.

The food planners aim to show you how easy it is to follow the plan. You simply work out which case study most closely resembles your situation and use the food planner as a blueprint that you can adapt.

All in all this book is an excellent addition to the plethora of books on weight management already on the shelves – and perhaps on your shelf if you are among the millions of people who have happened to gain weight and are considering a(nother) diet?

I like the fact that the focus is on understanding the science of turning food into fuel, the effect of glucose on your body, energy levels and mood, not calorie counting, and the importance of eating little and often.

Naturally, as with anything in life worth having, eating well does take time, thought and effort.

Not having the time to eat well is not an excuse in my, or Ian Marber’s, book! Time, or lack of, is an issue for all of us, but this a question of priorities and eating well does not have to be complicated.

I’d like to finish here with a delicious recipe for Frenchleek and onion soup, with the novel addition of a poached egg over which the hot soup is ladled just before eating.

French leek & onion soup with poached eggs

Serves 4

This is what you need:

3 tbsp sunflower oil

2 fairly large onions (about 350g total weight), halved and sliced

2 large leeks, well-washed and sliced

4 tbsp quinoa

1 litre strong beef or vegetable stock

1 bay leaf

freshly ground black pepper

4 eggs

85g Gruyère or Cheddar, grated

This is what you do:

Heat the oil in a large, non-stick, saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and leeks and fry, stirring until they begin to soften and colour, for about 4 minutes. Then reduce the heat as low as possible, cover and cook very gently for 10 minutes. Remove the lid, turn up the heat and fry, stirring, for 3-4 minutes until golden. Stir in the quinoa.

Add the stock, the bay leaf and some seasoning. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer gently for 20 minutes.

Pre-heat the grill. Break the eggs, one at a time, into a cup and slide each into the simmering soup. Simmer for 2-5 minutes, depending on how well-cooked you like your eggs. Carefully lift out the eggs with a slotted spoon and place in 4 flame proof soup bowls. Don’t worry if there are bits of egg white left behind. Ladle the soup over.

Cover the top of each bowl with the grated cheese and place under the grill until melted and bubbling, about 3 minutes.

I love cooking and I want to cook, but … I don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen all the time.

Because it’s the one time of the year when the business closes for 2 weeks, I have time on my hands which means an opportunity to experiment with new recipes and flavours.

So a chance to cook what I fancy, however … I also want our guests to enjoy their food including those with more conservative (or should that be traditional?) tastes.

I feel equally ambivalent about all the richness of seasonal Christmas foods: Christmas cake, mince pies, nuts, lots of meat and want to counter that with some lighter, fragrant meals.

If you’re entertaining this Christmas, I believe that it’s not so much a case of just making a shopping list …

this is the time for some serious plotting, planning and scheming to produce delicious food – effortlessly!

Remember that old training chestnut (no pun intended!):

“fail to prepare, prepare to fail”x

Boring, but very true.

Also, remember that its your choice whom you bestow your money on; I do like to buy well all the time, but especially at Christmas do look forward to luxury treat and indulgences.

Shopping right is part of good citizenship as far as I am concerned.

Golden crusted Brussels sprouts

Here’s how:

Start by writing down all the eating occasions, from breakfast, brunch to the big Christmas lunch, afternoon tea and everything in between and how many people (approximately) you’ll be feeding.

The work out what you want to serve: I try to strike a balance between tradition and adventure by mixing old favourites with new dishes and adding a lighter, more contemporary twist.

Try and shop local and support British farmers and producers. There’s a bound to be a (farmers) market taking place in your neighbourhood this week. The Real Food Festival’s Christmas Market took place on the South Bank: I realise this is not much help to you now, but make a mental note to visit next year. It was a great place for festive cheer and to buy some wonderful goodies for your Christmas table. www.realfoodfestival.co.uk

Visit local retailers if you don’t already: unless you shop at the local butcher, fish monger, bakery, veg man etc. they could soon be boarded up.

Soups, pates + terrines make great party food that’s easy to prepare and scale up if necessary; includes at least one vegetarian option to offer a break from meat/fish to those who want it.

Stock up on fresh herbs: I like to have coriander, mint, chives and flatleaf parsley to hand to add freshness and zing to soups, vegetables and salads. If you buy “cut” rather than “potted” herbs, wrap them in moistened paper kitchen towel and store in a plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of your fridge. Rosemary, thyme and sage are great standbys for adding flavour to stews, casseroles and roast. But I find that their dried equivalents work almost as well.

Stock up on a few varieties of decent bread: sourdough, multiseed, rye or try spelt for a change. Real bread stays fresh for longer and is useful in some many ways: at breakfast, “things” on toast, sandwiches and leftovers can be made into breadcrumbs or bread & butter pudding.

Eggs are a versatile super food: try free-range duck‘s eggs for a change. Wonderfully rich in an omelette or in scrambled eggs. Quail‘s eggs are ever so pretty, fried/poached for a minute and used as a salad or canape topping, or boiled, half peeled and dipped in dukkah or celery salt as a snack with drinks.

Make a double quantity of crumble topping (I like to add chopped toasted nuts to mine for extra texture + flavour) and keep in the fridge or freezer: very handy if you want to make a hot pudding with whatever fruit you’ve got to hand.

Baked apples, stuffed with mincemeat and a small piece of marzipan leftover from decorating the Christmas cake, make a very simple but crowd-pleasing pudding. Serve with single cream or custard.

I will also make a cinnamon flavoured fruit compote, probably with quinces, but you coul use a mixture of apples + quinces or dried fruit steeped in strong tea. Go easy on the sugar or honey, taste it first. Delicious topped with natural yoghurt + granola or mixed seeds for breakfast or a substantial cold pudding.

Another great, easy to make, standby are jellies: jelly has had a bit of a renaissance this year, partly thanks to the efforts of Sam Bompass & Harry Parr from The Jellymongers. www.jellymongers.co.uk . My favourite is a grown-up red wine jelly with pears poached in red wine. Very Christmassy, especially with a thin layer of cream poured over the top.

impromptu lunch or supper? Try a whole baked Vacherin Mont d’Or with boiled baby potatoes + good bread to dunk and a fresh, green salad on the side. Remove all plastic packaging from the cheese, carefully slice the top off, add a glug of white wine (and a few truffle shavings to make is taste even more amazing!) and black pepper, then replace the top, wrap the cheese in aluminium foil and replace in its wooden box. Bake for about 25 minutes at 180C until warm and runny. Smelly, you’ve been warned, but utterly delicious!

I’m not one for “canapes” preferring to serve a few good quality olives or some nuts with drinks instead of anything too fiddly. I make an exception for smoked fish (trout, salmon or mackerel) torn into bitesize pieces and served, with a slick of horseradish cream, on pumpernickel or bitesize oat cakes or blinis.﻿

Easy sweet treat: semi-dried figs stuffed with an almond + dunked in dark chocolate with a drop of rose water

Hand shaped breads, craft baked in a wood-fired oven: sourdough, spelt, rye and much much more. They only use imported, unbleached French flour. It is stone milled which enables the grain to maintain the beneficial vitamins and minerals that would otherwise be lost in commercial factory milling processes.

A Kentish Starter (originally made with apples from Kent, hence the name) is used as the raising agent for all of their breads.

The wonderful breads are sold via independent retailers, delis and bakeries. Call to find out your nearest stockist.

Venison, small game from the Scottish Highlands. Their venison sausages make a wonderfully easy meal, braised with Puy lentils or simply served with a root veg-potato mash: meaty and lean with a great gamey flavour.

St-Germain artisanal elderflower liqueur: “discovered” at the Real Food Festival earlier this year. A beautiful product and delicious as an aperitif added to champagne or white wine in a “St-Germain kir blanc”.

Vitamin D, also called the “sunshine vitamin” because we get most of our vitamin D through the action of the sun shining on our skin, is a fat soluble vitamin.

The fact that it dissolves in fat is important because it means the body can store it for future use.

The thinking goes that, if you get 20 minutes of sun exposure (on your arms or face) between 10am-3pm between the months of April-September, when sun’s rays are strong enough to trigger the conversion of vitamin D in our skin), your body can make enough vitamin D to see you through the winter months.

Foods rich in vitamin D include oily fish (such as herring, mackerel and salmon), liver, egg yolk, butter and some fortified foods such as margarine and breakfast cereals.

Reading through the list above, you can see that a vegetarian and vegan diets can easily be low in vitamin D.

Some of the causes of vitamin D deficiency are:

you don’t eat enough foods right in vitamin D. If that’s the case, change your diet and start including more foods that are rich in vitamin D.

you are overweight. Vitamin D is absorbed by fat cells which can lead to low vitamin D levels in the body. Lose weight, because if you don’t your bones can become very fragile.

you have dark skin or always wear sun protection creams with a high factor. Be aware of your skin’s reduced ability to produce vitamin D and expose your skin more to the sun or take a supplement.

Limited exposure to sunlight. This is easiest to treat: just spend more time outside!﻿

Absorption from the gut is poor. This can affect people with Crohn’s and Coeliac disease.

Deficiency symptoms in adults can be vague and unspecific and include depression, chronic fatigue and osteoporosis.

However, there is increasing evidence that vitamin D is important for more than strong bones and teeth and has many other roles within the immune system.

This recipe was a bit of an experiment, but one that has worked wonderfully well which is why I’m sharing it with you.

I’d wanted to bake a vegan cake for a while, but struggled with the idea of substituting the ubiquitous eggs and butter and did not want to end up with something dry, heavy and “worthy”.

In this cake, I’ve used

Carotino (a mixture of red palm fruit & canola oil http://www.carotino.co.uk/ ) an orange coloured oil which is quite thick and tolerates high temperatures well (making it also very suitable for frying); Sainsbury’s I know sell it as I’m sure do some independent grocers.

The secret (which is out now!) I think to this moist, moreish cake are the chestnut puree and the coconut milk.

This cake is no “looker”: it’s a dark brown brick of a cake, much like Parkin, studded with small pieces of cooked chestnuts, but its plainness is part of its appeal I think.

Serve it, like I did, with pears poached in red wine + coconut cream as a dessert or sliced thickly for elevenses or afternoon tea.

If you want to tinker with the recipe, you could substitute the chestnut puree for (canned) pumpkin puree, replace the chestnuts with (toasted) walnut pieces and use 2 tsp of mixed spice + 1 tsp of ground ginger to flavour the cakes.

It could probably also be turned into something chocolatey by replacing 100g of the flour with cocoa powder (the real thing, not drinking chocolate powder) and the chestnuts with small pieces of dark chocolate.

Large discs of polenta are layered and baked in the oven until the Parmesan and butter form a brown, crunchy crust.

Served with a generous ladle of chunky tomato sauce.

Yum!

Here, I’ve added semi-dried tomatoes (the ones sometimes called “mi-cuit” or “slow roast” not the ones preserved in oil) snipped into small pieces, but you could also use fried, chopped mushrooms or some finely chopped wilted (and very well-drained!) leaf spinach.

I made fresh tomato sauce made from a glut of very ripe, cheap tomatoes earlier this year which I froze in handy portions. ready to dip into in the winter when fresh (green house) tomatoes have no taste.

Instead, use a 400g can of good quality chopped tomatoes simmered for 20 minutes until thick with a clove of finely chopped garlic, pinch of sugar, 1 tsp of dried thyme, tsp of tomato puree and a glug of olive oil, pepper & salt.

A favourite with SavvyCook clients because it’s an easy to prepare, fragrant and satisfying meal.

Chicken is an excellent source of protein and provides useful amounts of B vitamins, particularly B1 and niacin. Carrots are a valuable source of vitamin A in the form of beta-carotene which gives carrots their bright orange colour. Unlike most vegetables, which are more nutritious when eaten raw, carrots have more nutritional value when cooked. Cooking breaks down the tough cell walls, enabling the beta-carotene to be more easily absorbed and converted into vitamin A.

Nutritional analysis

Energy

(kcal)

Protein

(g)

Fat

(g)

Of which saturates

(g)

Carbo-

hydrate (g)

Of which sugars (g)

Fibre

(g)

Sodium

(mg)

Salt

(g)

516

38

9

1

73

10

5

160

0.4

Left-over roast chicken or lamb works really well too in this recipe too: just add along with the tomatoes and carrots at step 4.

Serves 4

This is what you need:

1 onion, sliced into 8 half moons

1 clove of garlic, chopped finely

1 tbsp olive oil

4 carrots, topped, tailed and thickly sliced

3 tsp Ras El Hanout spice mix

400g can chopped tomatoes

400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

300ml water

8 chicken thighs, each cut into half

small bunch of coriander, roughly chopped

This is what you do:

heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat

add the onion and garlic and sweat for 5 minutes

increase the heat, add the chicken and spice mix and fry until the chicken pieces are lightly browned

add the tomatoes and carrots and pour in the water

bring to a simmer and simmer for 15 minutes, covered

in the meantime, prepare the bulghur wheat according instructions on the packet

when ready to serve, check the seasoning, stir in the coriander and serve with bulghur wheat

Partly because they are such an ancient fruit, partly because they are pretty hard to get hold of (they are really only around in November) which makes them a much-anticipated treat.

And then their scent is divine: a mixture of honey, musk and roses. When I am able to buy quinces, the first thing I do is fill a large bowl with them and just enjoy their colour and fragrance for a week or so.

Quinces do need quite a bit of work: their acidic, hard flesh needs to be cooked long and slowly until the pale flesh takes on a pinky hue.

Luckily, because they are so perfumed you don’t need to do anything complicated with them. Poach them like pears, only longer. Just add a splash of water and dollop of honey to peeled, cored and quartered quinces, with a pinch of cinnamon if you like.

The flavour of cooked quince is powerful enough to take on rosemary, cinnamon, cloves even star anise, bay and even saffron.

Frangipane quince tartlets

For the recipe below you want a dry-ish compote with some of the quinces poached to a pulp and some still retaining their shape so you can chop the flesh up roughly.

The frangipane quince tartlets I made are inspired by a quince Bakewell tart I spotted in Lawson’s delicatessen www.lawsonsdelicatessen.co.uk in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, a few weeks ago.

I have since also come across a recipe by Sam & Sam Clarke, chef-owners of Moro www.moro.co.uk, for Tarta de Santiago which reads like a Spanish version of the Bakewell tart made with membrillo (quince paste).

These frangipane quince tartlets are a delicious, almondy mouthfuls. Their butteriness balanced by the slightly astringent quince compote.

I find the texture very pleasing too: crunchy almonds, soft frangipane and the soft, slightly grainy texture of the quinces.

And not too much pastry which can feel like a “sandy mouthful”: the balance between filling, topping and pastry shell is just right.

Make your own short crust pastry or take a short-cut. You can buy very decent ready-made pastry. Look out for “all-butter”: Dorset Pastry’s organic short crust pastry is good as is Waitrose’s own label short crust pastry sheets (no rolling out necessary).

To makefrangipane quince pies for Christmas: simply replace the filling with 1/2 mince meat and 1/2 poached, very finely chopped quinces. Really delicious, much fruitier and with a more interesting texture I think, they beat traditional mince pies hands down!